Regulator for exhausters of gas-retorts



(No Model.)

' P. EGNER. v Regulator for Exhausters of Gas Retort s.

Patented Aug. 3

I HI

I & 2,4 1 f N PE 5. O O-UTKOGRAPMER, WAQH NGYO D 0 through the scrubbing and purifying apparatus into the storage holders. It is very desir- 2 UNITED STATES PATENT; Orricn.

FREDERIO EGNER, OF NORFOLK, VIRGINIA.

REGULATOR FOR EXHAUSTERS OF GAS-RETORTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 230,699, dated August 3, 1880, Application filed May 14, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREnERIc EGNER, of Norfolk, in the State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Regulators for Exhansters of Gas-Retorts, of which the following is a specification.

The exhauster in gas-works is generally a rotary pump driven by a steam-engine. Its ob-. ject is to take away the gas from the retorts as fast as it is made and force it on its way able that the exhaust should take the gas from the retorts in such a manner that whether gas is made fast-the coal being fresh in the retortsor' slowthe gas being nearly withdrawn-the pressure in the retorts shall remain at a given point, because, the retorts being fire clay, excessive pressure will cause leakage and loss of gas, while if there be not pressure enough, or if there be a tendency to a vacuum, air will be drawn in with the gas, and the latter will thereby be greatly deteriorated in illuminating power.

Now, in order that the exhauster shall run with the proper velocity, it is customary to employ a gas governor or regulator which, being connected with the steam-valve of the engine, is supposed to regulate the speed.

The general organization of all exhauster governors or regulators of which I have knowledge is as follows There is employed a tank nearly filled with water, (represented in the accompanying drawings at A, in plan in Fig. 3, and in vertical central section, Fig. 4,) in which tank is a small gas-holder, B, and in the latter, rising above the surface w of the water, is a gas-pipe, O. The gas-holder B has heretofore been connected by levers, in' conjunction with other instrumentalities, more or less directly with the throttle or other valve admitting steam to the engine. When gas is made fast it enters the holder through the pipe 0 in the direction of the arrow, and, raising it, is supposed to operate the steam-valve and thus cause the engine to run faster, and when the pressure falls below that for which the holder B is balanced the holder descends, and, closing the valve more or less, causes the engine, and consequently the exhauster, to move more slowly.

' perfectly. The fact that the gas could not exert much power in connection with the work required seems to have been overlooked, or, if gnot overlooked in every instance, it has not been sufficiently regarded in making the connections between the holder and the valve.

It is essential to a perfectly-acting exhauster to provide a steam-valve which can be moved *far enough in either direction with the least :possible exertion of force and with the least possible lost motion between the valve and the gas-holder.

It has been my object to attain this result;

and to this end I have devised the improvement now about to be described, which, after 3 thorough and extended trial under all varying conditions of work, I have found to fully answer the purpose.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure I is a side elevation of the valve and its .connections. Fig. II is a vertical central section of the same, showing the valve-seats, (of which there are two,) valves, (also two on one stem,) packing-box, and in fact all the details to enable any mechanic to make the apparatus. Fig. III is a plan of the whole valve and gasholder as connected. Fig. IV is sectional elevation of the same.

Like letters refer to like parts in all the figures. The arrowsin Fig. II indicate the direction in which the steam should go.

D is the valve-chest, consisting of an outer chamber, D, an inner chamber, d, all in one piece. lprefer to employ a double circular valve, T T, mounted on a stem, (1, and working in connection with corresponding valveseats in the inner chamber, cl. An ordinarysingle valve, however, may be used instead, if desired, in which case there would, of course, be but one valve-seat. The stem to extends out through the valve-chest bonnet m and packinggland p, and is externally screwthreaded at I, so as to screw through the crosshead of the strap h. When the stem is revolved its screw-threaded part 1, engaging the correspondingly screw-threaded hole in the cross-head, through which it passes, will cause the valve to move to or from its seat, accordin g to the direction of rotation. This arran gement, which permits the valve to be moved easily, is much preferable to that of a sliding stem as generally employed in other exhaustengine valves, for, as above stated, the gas cannot act with much power, and the governor, to be efi'ective, must be extremely sensitive. On the outer end of the valve-stem is the cylindrical hub or wheel E, around which the cord 6 makes several turns, which hub or wheel may be smooth on its exterior, but preferably is spirally grooved, so as to constitute what may be called a worm-wheel. The wormwheel has a hand-wheel fast to it, so as to permit the valve to be operated conveniently by hand if it be desired to stop the engine. The cord 0 is attached at one end to the top oi the gas-holder B. It passes up to and makes several turns around the worm-wheel, and has attached to its free end the tension-weight W, which also is a counter-balance for the gasholder B. By increasing or diminishing the weight I can regulate with great precision the normal speed of the engine.

It may be desirable in some cases-if, for instance, the gas-holder be not arranged directly under the worm-wheel E-to' run the connecting-cord e from the holderto the wheel E over or under guide-pulleys. I prefer, however, the arrangement shown in the drawings.

Under this arrangement it will be seen that the counterbalance weight holds the cord firmly on the worm-wheel, so that there will be no lost motion. The slightest movementof the counterbalanced gas-holder, due to variations from the normal pressure for which the holder 1. counterbalanced will at once affect the valve through the instrumentality of the stem, which will be rotated, and thus cause the valve to move to or from its seat, as the case may be.

I do not claim, broadly, the combination of the valve and the gas-holder with intermediaries operated by the movement of the holder to actuate the valve.

I am also aware that it has before been proposed to employ within a gasometer a valve operated, through the intermediary of a cord and counterbalance-Wei ght attached to its stem, by the movement of the gasometer-bell, to control the admission of gas into the gasometer, and this I do not claim; but

What I claim as my improvement, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In apparatus for regulatingthe exhanster-engines of gas-retorts, the combination, with the throttle or other valve for governing the supply of steam to the engine, provided with a stem having a screw-threaded hearing, as described, of the gas-holder, the connecting-cord attached at one end to said holder and at the other end wound around a hub or wheel on the valve-stem, and the weight attached to the free end of the cord to hold the same under tension and to counterbalance the gas-holder under the arrangement described, so that the movement of the gas-holder due to pressure greater or less than the normal pressure for which it is counterbalanced shall cause the gradual closing or opening of the steam-valve.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set set my hand this 13th day of May, 1880.

FREDERIO EGNER.

Witnesses:

CHAS. S. ALLMAND, J. H. DAWSON. 

